Albert Gore: Dad's Doing Well, Not Running in 2008

At the GOOD Magazine party last night celebrating the second issue of the guide for do-gooders, Albert Gore III sat down for a rare interview. The young Mr. Gore - he's 24, and goes by Albert, not Al (and never 'lil Gore') - had lots of nice things to say about GOOD, where he is the associate publisher. He also had a little something to say about his father's presidential ambitions: Al Gore's not running. "The political environment right now is incredibly toxic," said Mr. Gore, acknowledging that he was "running the risk of repeating some of what my dad has already said." He wore jeans, a blue polo shirt and a dark blue blazer. He has blond hair and fair skin - a sort of Nordic version of dad. "There's way too much money involved. It's not one person, one vote any more. It's really one dollar one vote or something equivalent to that. The more money you have the more power you have in politics, and the type of populism that my grandfather, I guess, conducted himself with, and the same with my father - I'm not sure there's as much room for that as there was. And, I don't know, I don't plan to go into politics for a lot of the same reasons - well, I don't know all of his reasons - but I know that he has no plans to run in 2008." In the years since Al Gore has been out of office, Al and Albert have grown tighter than ever. They spend a lot of time talking and it's not all global warming, "though that's definitely his passion," said the son. "He's one of the smartest people I've ever met in my life, he's my best friend, and he's taught me more than anyone," he said. "I think that the country would be a lot better off but selfishly I'm glad that I get to spend a lot more time with him and I'm glad that he gets more days off a year." And he's making more money, right? "Well, and he's working in Hollywood. He's in my neighborhood all the time. He worked very hard in the years that he was in the White House and now I get to see him all the time and I treasure every moment." So he's definitely not running? "Well, I guess I have to add his addendum. I think the way he always says it is, 'I don't see any circumstances under which I would run for president.'" -- Spencer Morgan